Let me state up front that I wanted this entry to be about Ron Artest. See, I'm still bitter. Still bitter that he couldn't keep it together when he was on the Bulls. And I'm very bitter about his time with the Pacers: Not only did the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl he started ruin Indy's last serious shot at a title, he did it during Reggie Miller's final season. Then, after Pacers GM Larry Bird gave him a second chance, Ron-Ron began the season by asking for a couple months off to promote his rap album (his request was declined)...and then he demanded a trade (that request was granted).

The Pacers are still recovering, both financially -- they're losing about $30 million a year and the city of Indianapolis recently granted the team a $33 bailout just to keep them from leaving town -- and in terms of oncourt success. Seriously, it's starting to look like the Pacers may never be good ever again.

Thank you, Ron Artest. Thank you very much.

And yet I can't do it. I can't include Artest in my list of Worst NBA Champions. There are two reasons for this. First, he may well have been the difference between the Lakers winning the title or succumbing to their hated rivals. He didn't have a good playoffs -- his shooting was turrible (39% from the field, 29% in threes), he missed 16 of his 38 fouls shots, and he gave up 110 points per 100 possessions -- but he made crucial contributions in the Finals. Namely, slowing down Paul Pierce and hitting some key shots, particularly near the end of Game 7. It's not inaccurate to suggest the Lakers might not have won without him.

So Ron gets a free pass this time around. Instead, I turn my attention to The 'Stache: Adam John Morrison.

I almost feel bad about picking on Morrison. God knows he's been picked on enough during his brief and highly unsuccessful NBA career. I say "unsuccessful" relative to the expectations placed on him. Of course, his so-called lack of success has earned him two NBA championships and almost $17 million in cold, hard cash. Man...I wish my epic fails were more like Morrison's.

Still, his fall from grace has been long, hard, and face-first into the giant Palm of Destiny. After all, he was a great player in college. Wait. Scratch that. He was a great scorer in college. During his third and final season at Gonzaga, he led the nation in scoring by averaging 28.1 PPG while shooting almost 50 percent from the field and nearly 43 from downtown. As Wikipedia recounts: "He had 13 games of 30-plus points, with five of them over 40. His scoring totals against teams in the "major" conferences are no less impressive; he averaged 28.5 points in 11 such games. On February 18, Morrison recorded a career high 44 (including 37 in the second half alone) points against Loyola Marymount Lions in a winning effort."

Dude could put the biscuit in the basket.

During his final game as a college student -- versus UCLA in the Sweet Sixeen -- Morrison led the Zags with 24 points. Unfortuantely for Adam, UCLA came back from a 17-point deficit and literally stole the game in the final seconds. Heartbreak City, baby. Before the game had even ended, Morrison started to cry. Then, when it was finally over, he flopped on the ground, pulled his jersey over his head, and wept like a wee little baby. Here's the entire spectacle:

It was an ugly scene. And as you could see, his tantrum prevented him from helping give his team a chance at the end...and he took some serious shit for it. Not enough to keep him from becoming an NBA lottery pick. But still.

Of course, there were legitimate concerns regarding his NBA prospects. He was slow. He was slightly awkward and not particularly athletic. Despite his size (6'8"), he didn't rebound very well (only 5.1 RPG for his college career and 5.5 during his final season). He didn't do much to make his teammates better either (to wit: during his final season at Gonzaga, he averaged about 20 FGA and almost 10 FTA but only 1.7 APG). And his ability make the transition to the pros was seriously questioned:

While Morrison’s dominance at the college level can’t be questioned, many still doubt how his game will translate to the next level. Morrison has a certain amount of deceptive quickness to his game, but is he a good enough athlete to be a star in the NBA?

With how hard Morrison has to work to get shots at the college level, can he create offense against the Ron Artests and Bruce Bowens of the NBA? While the caliber of defender guarding Morrison has made little difference during his time at Gonzaga, it remains to be seen whether he has the footspeed or overall athleticism to succeed as an all-around scorer at the next level.

The other hole in Adam Morrison’s game can be easily observed on the defensive end. Morrison clearly reserves most of his energy for his scoring expoits, and tends to coast on defense most of the time. Gonzaga will often switch into zone defenses so teams can’t exploit him on that end.

While Morrison has solid defensive instincts when he is focused, it is generally perceived that the lack of footspeed will really hurt in one-on-one situations on the defensive end. Morrison may very well be able to create his own shot in the NBA, but it is hard to see him being able to stay in front of the freak athletes occupying the wing position in the NBA. It is likely that whichever team ends up drafting Morrison will have to come up with a defensive gameplan that covers for Morrison’s shortcomings on that end.

Despite the many doubts, Michael Jordan -- in one of his first acts as Manager of Basketball Operations of the Charlotte Bobcats -- made Morrison the third overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft...ahead of guys like Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay and Rajon Rondo, not to mention a scad of other servicable roleplayers (J.J. Redick, Ronnie Brewer, Boobie Gibson, Paul Milsap, etc.).

Morrison's entry into the Association led to some semi-brilliant NBA Live commercials:

There was also one about his mustache that I can't figure out how to embed. Unfortunately, these commericals -- filmed before he had played a single NBA game -- turned out to be the best part of his entry into the league.

Morrison had a rough rookie season -- 11.8 PPG, 37% FGP, 33% 3P% -- and lost his starting job after only 23 games because of bad shooting and worse defense. By all accounts, Morrison spent the offseason working himself into terrific shape only to tear the ACL in his left knee during a preseason game, which forced him to sit out the entire 2007-08 season. When Adam returned for the the 2008-09 campaign, he had regressed (4 PPG, 35% FGP). It didn't help that the 'Cats new coach, Larry Brown, hated Morrison's defense and preferred strong drives to willowy three-pointers. At the trade deadline, he was shipped to L.A., where he passed out enough Gatorade and handed out enough clean towels during timeouts to become an NBA champion.

There were rumors Morrison might not return for the 2009-10 season, that the Lakers might trade him or buy out his contract. No dice. L.A. held onto him because, by all accounts, he was a hard worker and a diligent practice player. And ideal 12th man. But not a rotation player.

In all, Morrison appeared in only 31 games. He never played more than 16 minutes and 53 seconds. For the season, he took 85 shots and scored only 74 points. His season high was seven points. In 25 of his games, he scored five points or less. In 10 of his games, he didn't score at all. His shooting percentages were 37 percent from the field and 23 percent from beyond the arc.

His postseason contributions were even more limited. He appeared in exactly two first round playoff games: He logged four minutes in the Lakers' 110-89 Game 4 loss in Oklahoma City, and he put in eight minutes worth of work during L.A.'s 111-87 home win in Game 5.

And that was it. Those were his final minutes of PT as a member of the Lakers. When Morrison's contract expired this summer, Mitch Kupchak let him know his services were no longer required. He worked out with a few teams -- the Bulls and Celtics, for instance -- and it appears he might be hooking up with the Washington Wizards. Which, honestly, is great, because -- like I said -- he appears to be a focused, determined player who is well-liked by his teammates.

Just ask Kobe Bryant: "[The fact that Morrison couldn't crack the rotation] is a testament to our team, honestly, because Adam can really play. He can really, really go. For him to take a step back and to do things like that really helped us get to that championship level."

Considering how rarely Kobe doles out praise, that's really saying something. And it gets to the point of this post. Unlike some of the other Worst NBA Champions, Morrison wasn't a locker room cancer, or someone who put himself ahead of team goals, or someone who bragged about accomplishments he was barely a part of, or a huge douchebag. It seems he was a character guy who took his role with the team very seriously but simply wasn't good enough to keep his job.

Or even get in a real game.

No, Morrison wasn't a bad guy. He was -- and is -- a walking, talking, non-playing cautionary tale. He had a truly memorable college career, but he went bust in the NBA. It's not his fault. It's not like he didn't try. And I'm sure it's something that's pretty hard to take. It would have to be.

*sniff* brought a tear to my eye. If he would just shave that damned rat above his lip. I do remember some random 20 point game he had against the heat a few years back. He's not completely hopeless as an nba player but it doesn't look too good right now

Do the 80s, the Lakers and Celtics attracted some real characters who wanted rings (plus it would give you an excuse to use Mitch Kupchak and his "all I did was bang in 85" quote again). And 1/2 the Pistons team deserves worst NBA champion status.

Plus you can't just end the series like this. This just made me sad. Ammo tries hard, he just isn't good enough. I demand more guys getting arrested, doing drugs and starting fights with their teammates.

Isn't there some talk of Ammo going to the Wizards? I dunno, Sasha = bad champion for ways beyond his play. Morrison just seems like a guy who's trying to deal with where he is right now in the league.

The Gods must give away skills while drunk on hard liquor, or they have a twisted sense of humor,,, they grant scumbags like Rider with amazing skills and zero brain, and bless good guys like Morrison with limited hardware.Anyway, I wouldn't mind seeing the jazz take a (cheap) gamble at him. Sloan can take the best of any player who is focused enough to play according to his limitations and following the game plan. Hey, even Donnyel Marshall played ball!!

yeah, everything wrong with the pacers falls on artest. gimme a fuckin break.

he wasn't the one to make that trade with the warriors in which the warriors got stephen jackson and then had a very exciting season + a great playoff series against the mavs. i remember saying at the time that the pacers had done a huge mistake but people were all in my face explaining to me how the warriors got fleeced and how great ike diogu was going to be.

artest wasn't the one giving tinsley that horrible contract. he wasn't the one overpaying for JO. he wasn't the one trying to build a kkk approved nba team.

it's easy to make artest a scapegoat and he had his share of blame. so did jackson. so did tinsley. but most of the blame falls on the front office.

speaking of jackson and tinsley, maybe there's something in indiana that drives athletes crazy. jackson fired a gun, tinsley was shot, the new guy pushed his girl down some stairs and i think there was a rookie a few years ago that also got in some trouble involving a gun.

back to the front office: what have donnie walsh and larry bird done ?

ever since rumors about lebron to the knicks started floating around, i've been saying that miami has the better chance, cause they have riles, who actually knows how to coach a champion and how to build one. walsh just doesn't have the same credentials.

as for bird, if jordan gets roasted for his time as a gm, so should larry. but somehow he kinda gets a pass. i guess all that basketball jesus and all that being white have something to do with it.

one last thing: reggie miller was way overrated. he was little more than a glorified steve kerr. he couldn't really carry a team, on the nba all time totem pole he should be even lower than ewing (another guy who was massively overrated in his time), and despite his amazing shooting the lasting memory of his career might not be his 8 points in 18 sec (IIRC) but him getting blocked by tayshaun prince. and as far as i remember he also was an asshole with his elbows and attitude on court.

An interesting thing that this entry in the series made me realize is that for people like Ammo and possibly Scal (minus his douchy bragging), their inadequacies are magnified by the teams they play for.

I mean, it's not like either of them would be anything more than role players on other teams, but when you're on stacked teams like the Lakers or Celtics, or even just whichever team is the champion for a given year, the kind of stats you're most commonly judged by are naturally depressed because seriously..unless the Lakers have an unbreakable lead, what's the need to have you out there when even the low second-stringers can handle the rest of the game? Even if you do have serviceable skills, a championship team just doesn't *have* to dip that far into the bench on a regular basis to give you some time to get your stats up.

Not that I'm defending either of them, and my sentiments don't apply to the early entries in the series where the players were just wasting talent/being jerks, but it's a natural circumstance that the lower-tier players on a championship team are going to look that much worse because of it.

yeah, everything wrong with the pacers falls on artest. gimme a fuckin break.

I'm going to bottom line this for you: The seasson before the Brawl, the Pacers had the best record in the league and lost a tough six-game series against the eventual champion Pistons, thanks in part to Tayshaun Prince's unbelievable block on Reggie Miller. The following season, the Pacers seemed even better. In the early goings, they again had the league's best record and were in the final minutes of thumping the Pistons in Detroit. Then Artest set off the brawl and it's been hell ever since.

he wasn't the one to make that trade with the warriors in which the warriors got stephen jackson and then had a very exciting season + a great playoff series against the mavs. i remember saying at the time that the pacers had done a huge mistake but people were all in my face explaining to me how the warriors got fleeced and how great ike diogu was going to be.

The Pacers had to trade Jackson because the fanbase turned on him for going to a strip club, beating up a handicapped man, and then firing his gun into the air...and then later getting into a fight at a bar. Indy had trouble finding any takers, and didn't have much other choice but to make that trade with the Warriors.

And while your critique of Indy's front office has some legitimacy, the reality is the Pacers had assembled a championship level team. Would they have won it that year? No idea. But they could have...and Artest blew the whole thing up. To make matters worse, that's how Reggie Miller had to end his career, watching his last (and maybe best) chance at a title get flushed because Ron-Ron had to grandstand by laying on a table and then bolting into the crowd after a fan.

Great post, I always feel bad for Morrison, because he could have been a decent role player were expectations lower (and he went lower in the draft). He at least could have had Kyle Korver's career, right? If he had just a little more speed, he could have been a J.R. Smith-type of player.

He was notorious for trash-talking and loved to get in people's faces. He was way too big for his britches and really believed that he was some kind of Larry v 2.0

JJ Redick might have been more hated because he went to Duke and looked like he just ran out of the Phi Sigma kegger to make a cocaine run, but Redick was not known for shit-talking to other players; he was just known for drilling shots and pissing off fans and crowds. Morrison would loftily make fun of other players for their inferior talents and really thought he was some kind of basketball jebus.

Whatever "problems" he's having right now (while drawing NBA money), he has earned and deserves.

And the rings he owns are just reminders of how flatly he has fallen on his face in the last 3 years.

How do you justify Reggie Miller being way overrated? He is perfectly rated, no one ever gives him any attributes that he doesn't deserve. If you think Reggie is way overrated then you must think Ray Allen is a straight up scrub because when he was doing his best work in Seattle his numbers were pretty much the same as Reggie's best year, except he shot way worse (51% to 43%) and took 20 shots instead of the 15 Reggie took. Just because he didnt take people off the dribble all day doesnt mean hes overrated, no one said thats what he did. I hear 'Reggie Miller is overrated' all the time, not once have I heard someone give him more credit than he deserves. As for your ridiculous Kerr comment that was just rubbish. Millers best single season average was 24 pts a game. Kerr's best game in his entire career? 24 pts. Reggie averaged 3 times more points than Kerr did.

@Original: Game 4, 2008 NBA Finals (the 17-point lead blown by the Lakers in L.A.). In Sasha's defense, it looked like he was expecting some help from Gasol on the Allen drive. Then again, when it's the biggest play in the series (at that point, anyway), you shouldn't look for help.

I would argue that the Sasha-breakdown was the biggest reason why Artest was brought in a year and half later.

morrison has two rings. and have you thought about the nba worst non champions, like when karl malone and gary payton went to l.a. and they got beat by the pistons or when shaq when to cleavland last year. I would like those better because they are guy going for garbage rings, but dont get them and that really makes me feel good inside

I have got to applaud you Bawful. This series has been awesome, first of all, but the section on Ron Artest was actually pretty touching, considering your hell-bent hate of the Lakers and your love for your hometown team and the Celtics. Braaaavo.

To the guy that said Patrick Ewing was overrated, I really beg to differ. I've watched some old Knicks versus Rockets, Knicks verus Pacers games recently and I was blown away by how well-rounded and smart his game was. I didn't really know all that much about him because I was a kid then. I only took in his haircut, his unusually high shooting motion and his popular shoes but he really had it all. Great pump fakes, footwork, feel for his defender and surprisingly, he was a very good passer. I sort of assumed because his teams never won the whole shebang, because he's kind of monosyllabic, because someone stuck the Ewing rule to him, that he wasn't a smart player, a good passer but he really was. He passed well out of the double teams and he could make a defense shift exactly like he wanted it to so he could get a teammate an open shot. I came away with a new appreciation for him and a regret that he never won a championship.

Since there's some Reggie Miller commentary in here, what are your thoughts about him Mr. Bawful? Is he a shoo-in HOFer like many people think? Or has he been overrated because of his longevity and a few very memorable playoff moments? And who would you take between Ray Allen and Reggie Miller?

Anon and Anon - I HATED Ewing. And not in small part because his Knicks were a tough opponent for the Pacers. He occasionally took the ol' travel, but he was really, really good. Not really flashy, but always solid. He played other centers tough on both sides of the floor. I don't regret him winning a ring because, well, you know, he's a Knick. But he really was top-notch. In today's league he'd be a dominant center if the refs let him.

As for Reggie, people underestimate his skills. Obviously he was a shooter, and that was his primary role. But Reggie could and did cut to the basket on sweet drives, and played good team defense and acceptable individual defense. He was often assigned the second-most dangerous guard or forward after Derrick McKey, and as McKey fell in to alcoholism, ahem, got older, more pressure was put on him. Reggie was also an absolute pain-in-the-ass, but unlike many stars he never denied it. He was a total competitor. He certainly flopped, and I'll even admit it sometimes annoyed me. But he never flopped and quit - he would always turn around and hustle on the very next play.

Have to give you some kudos here, Matt. That bit on Artest was entertaining, knowledgeable and funny. It was also right on target. This is, by the way, why I have come here so consistently. You manage to inject humanity into writing about sports, something that very few can do successfully. Ron-Ron really is a bit of a walking tragedy, and you rightly put your finger on the sore spot. That takes a certain sensitivity and "perfect pitch" that you can't teach, and I greatly respect you for it. You also hit there with the Morrison bit.

BTW, for exactly the same reasons JJ Redick deserves a lot of respect. Redick and Morrison illustrate the two sides of the dead-eye college shooter as pro prospect coin. As hard as it is for me to say this about a Dookie, Redick deserves a lot of respect for working his ass off to become a successful role player. He knew it wasn't going to come from his scoring, that he couldn't be a Steve Kerr type. So he completely re-created himself. My bet is that his scoring is going to improve as well. I don't know whether he worked harder or differently than Morrison, but he got a deep respect from this Duke hater. Can't put it in the bank, but it is what retired athletes live on.

Smush ParkerHe started in only 19 NBA games for the previous 4 years before the Lakers acquired him in 2005.He used to blame his HOF coach for his shortcomings.He started in 2 games in the following 2 years once the Lakers got rid of him.

The Machine: what else can I say about him that has not been already said in the previous Bawful post?

Stanislav MedvedenkoI guess he is a more obsolete version of today's modern Machine(Vujacic). Except he had ZERO defensive game. The Rampart division of the L.A.P.D. wanted to enroll him on his "Shoot first ask questions later" program but he declined to take the basic test in anything other than his native Ukrainian.

Brian Cook:If somehow Medvenko and Smush Parker were to get Married and subsequently procreate. Then their offspring would probably end up inheriting all of their bawfulness all combined.Meet Brian Cook!

@Paul - the sad thing is your all-time-bawful Lakers team played together at the same time just four years ago...wow. There's even a slight possibility all were on the floor at the same time at some point in the 2005-2006 season. Yet somehow they made the playoffs and threatened Phoenix in the first round (although it was a pretty empty threat).

That '05-'06 team also "featured" Turiaf, Walton (starter), and George as well. That season alone may have proved how good Kobe is (or was). Too bad, he became obsessed with proving a point in Game 7.

I wouldn't say that 06 Lakers team's threat vs. Phoenix was an empty threat. Game 6 Phoenix needed to get a very lucky break (and for multiple Lakers to miss a rebound) for Tim Thomas (TIM F'N THOMAS ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!) to man up and hit a 3 to send the game to OT.

I'd say that was a pretty serious threat. It's too bad that all people remember from that series is Kobe quitting in Game 7, because that series had a lot of great moments. Kobe's buzzer beater in Game 4 (+ out of bounds shenanigans), Raja Bell's clothesline and the above mentioned Game 6 craziness. Pretty fun little series.

@Anonymous - I meant "empty" as a joke, since there was basically no defense on that 05-06 Lakers squad. On that team, only Kobe, the sideline, and the baseline played defense.

I loved that Phoenix series. So much great play between Kobe and Nash. For the series, it was basically Kobe and Lamar vs. the Suns every game. Had Tim Thomas not played out of his mind for one game (and had Smush been able to stay in front of Nash for more than one second in Game 6), there was a good chance for an upset.

I can almost forgive Kobe for quitting...almost. For game 6, if I had just dropped 50, played all but one minute in an overtime game, got good to great games out of Lamar, Walton, Kwame, and Devean George, and still lost...I might give-up too.

In the Emerald City, Deep underneath the original Boston Garden, in a throne made from the clotted blood of his enemies, The Celtic of War, Kevin Garnett, broods on the coming season.

Nearby, Ray Allen takes shot after shot at a basket with a unique backboard--instead of a square, Kobe Bryant's face is in it's place. These baskets are littered throughout the Emerald City, and Ray always shoots bank-shots when here.

The venerable Paul Pierce sits in a lounge chair, watching game film with Doc Rivers, and Rajon Rondo paces back and forth on the parquet floor.

"Hey Kevin, what are you doing?"

"Reading Basketbawful, he is listing the Worst NBA Champions of the last 10 years. It is helping me look on the bright side."

"How?"

"Well, if we had won the title last season, then Rasheed Wallace would be on this list."

But, I still think he just gave up. Not out of spite or calculation, but out of disappointment. Look, he played 88 games with that team and at that point (especially after Game 6), he knew he was going to rise or fall with his teammates performance...and they didn't come through. Call it his version of the 2009-2010 Cavs...sometimes the Superstar can't do enough to win, but he'll get all the blame when they lose, it just comes with the territory of Superstar in the NBA.

He (and the rest of the Lakers) knew that Game 6 was going to be they're best shot at winning that series, and as soon as they lost (and the way they lost it), all their hopes seemed to diminish. They had a look of a team that no longer believed (like after Game 4). I suppose the "kobe quit" thing is us fans taking our frustrations out on our team.

melo should go to the knicks, the nets are a shitty franchise and place to play for. he should force denver to trade him to the knicks and the knicks should get creative, yo get melo you get CP3 and a chance to make things interesting in NY again!!!!

Even though I don't hate the Machine still I am getting tired of him . From ESPN: The team had another injury pop up Sunday when Steve Blake rolled his left ankle, suffering a mild sprain while being guarded by Sasha Vujacic at the end of practice.

"Sasha gave him a little extra push," Jackson said. "It's a highly competitive drill we end with. These things happen."

Depends on what you mean by quit. I remember watching that game and thinking to myself that he looked like a elite player going through the motions, as a elite player.

The reason it gets fuzzy is that, an elite player going through the motions is better than most people going balls out a lot of the times. So, throwing the "right" pass to some 3rd third tier bum may not be "quiting" in the literal sense, but he certainly wasn't trying to lay the hammer down in that game either.

"But I don't compete with little guards. I don't compete with little guys who run around dominating the ball, throwing up 30 shots a night -- like D-Wade, Kobe.

"Now if Tim Duncan said it, I'd be pissed. He's the only guy I'm competing with. If Tim Duncan gets five rings, then that gives some writer the chance to say 'Duncan is the best,' and I can't have that."

Of course he can't compete with Duncan. He tried with the Suns and failed. He couldn't touch them with the Lakers without Bryant ripping through the court. And he doesn't compete with "D-Wade, Kobe" yet went to the one team for the league minimum that has the best chance of beating both of them in the playoffs.

The more I think about it, I think Shaq was the catalyst for LeBurnt leaving Cleveland. His piss-poor pick and roll defense certainly came up against Boston, his 20 million dollar load prevented them from getting A'mare (which doesn't mean they would have won, but it certainly gives them a better chance), and I have no doubt that he divided up that locker room, as he has done on every other team he's been on.